Sheffield United: Blades reeling from a double transfer blow as Ramsdale leaves and Vieira move collapses following lengthy delay

Slavisa Jokanovic insisted Sheffield United must reinvest the money they are set to receive from Arsenal after agreeing to sell Aaron Ramsdale into his squad after confirming Ronaldo Vieira’s loan move from Sampdoria has collapsed.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Jokanovic, who has identified Roma’s Robin Olsen as a possible replacement for Ramsdale, revealed Vieira’s protracted move to Bramall Lane is now off following last night’s 4-0 defeat by West Bromwich Albion - a result the Serb attributed to United’s failure to cope with the physical threat posed by Valerien Ismael’s side.

As The Star predicted last week, Arsenal submitted a third offer for Ramsdale over the weekend despite claiming they had begun exploring other lines of enquiry in the transfer market following more than a month of back-channel communication between the two clubs. Mikel Arteta’s side will make an initial downpayment of between £24m and £26m to acquire the goalkeeper’s services with Ramsdale’s fee potentially rising to around £30m depending upon his performances in the capital.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Describing the 23-year-old’s departure as “disappointing”, Jokanovic told The Star: “We need to evaluate the situation. We need to check what is best for us now, now that we have lost Aaron.

Sheffield United manager Slavisa Jokanovic ahead of the Sky Bet Championship match at The Hawthorns, West Bromwich. Picture date: Wednesday August 18, 2021. PA Photo. See PA story SOCCER West Brom. Photo credit should read: Nick Potts/PA Wire.Sheffield United manager Slavisa Jokanovic ahead of the Sky Bet Championship match at The Hawthorns, West Bromwich. Picture date: Wednesday August 18, 2021. PA Photo. See PA story SOCCER West Brom. Photo credit should read: Nick Potts/PA Wire.
Sheffield United manager Slavisa Jokanovic ahead of the Sky Bet Championship match at The Hawthorns, West Bromwich. Picture date: Wednesday August 18, 2021. PA Photo. See PA story SOCCER West Brom. Photo credit should read: Nick Potts/PA Wire.

“Listen, I will repeat one more time, it’s not what I wanted, It is difficult to stop this kind of situation and it’s a huge deal for the club, after being relegated from the Premier League. From my side, he was our best option and we wanted to be working with our best players.”

Michael Verrips, who deputised for Ramsdale at The Hawthorns, was at fault for two of the goals he conceded on his league debut for United.

“It was Michael’s first time in the Championship and, of course, it wasn’t an easy day for him,” said Jokanovic, who took charge in July following United’s slide out of the top-flight. “On another side, Aaron was our first option and we are now looking at what is the best step for us. It was not perfect preparation to lose Aaron the day before the game but we can not say we were surprised by it.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Vieira, the former Leeds midfielder, had spent the past fortnight quarantining in England after accepting United’s invitation to spend the season in South Yorkshire.

But after travel restrictions imposed because of the Covid-19 pandemic and a dispute over who should pay the tax on the facility fee required to process the deal delayed his medical, Jokanovic said: “It is definitely off. We expected he could be available soon but we needed to wait for him longer. We took the decision to look for another option going forward.”

Ramsdale is expected to be unveiled by Arsenal later this week, after travelling to London to finalise the details of his switch to the Emirates Stadium. Capped by England at under-21 level, he was drafted into Gareth Southgate’s squad for this summer’s European Championship and informed Jokanovic last week that he wanted to leave. After signing him from AFC Bournemouth for an initial £16m 12 months ago, United must pay 10 percent of the fee they have brokered to the south coast club.